1. The act of picking (crops, fruit or hops etc.)
   "The apple picking season starts in September"
    
2. The quantity of a crop that is harvested
   "he sent the first picking of berries to the market";
   - pick

1. Select carefully from a group
   "She finally picked her successor"; "He picked his way carefully"
    
2. Look for and gather
   "pick mushrooms"; "pick flowers";
   - pluck, cull
    
3. Remove unwanted substances from, such as feathers or pits
   "pick the turkey";
   - clean
    
4. Remove in small bits
   "pick meat from a bone"
    
5. Eat intermittently; take small bites of
   "She never eats a full meal—she just picks";
   - nibble, piece
    
6. Hit lightly with a picking motion
   "She picked the strings of the guitar";
   - peck, beak
    
7. Pull lightly but sharply with a plucking motion
   "he picked the strings of his mandolin";
   - pluck, plunk [informal]
    
8. Hit (for example ice or rocky ground) with or as if with a pickaxe
   "Pick open the ice";
   - break up
    
9. Pilfer or rob
   "pick pockets"
    
10. Pay for something
    "pick up the tab";
    - foot
     
11. Harass with constant criticism
    "Don't always pick on your little brother";
    - blame, find fault
     
12. Provoke
    "pick a fight or a quarrel"

Derived forms: pickings

See also: cull out

Type of: call forth, choose, collect, criticise [Brit], criticize, damn [informal], draw, eat, evoke, garner, gather, kick up [informal], knock [informal], manual labor [US], manual labour [Brit, Cdn], output, pay, penetrate, pick apart, pick out, pierce, production, provoke, pull, pull together, remove, rob, select, strike, take, take away, withdraw, yield

Encyclopedia: Picking